Raoul Wallenberg memorial year
Commemorative stamp marks the centenary of Raoul Wallenberg’s birth
The stamp, its first day cover and the cancellation mark were
designed by the graphic artist Imre Benedek. The new stamp, 300,000
copies of which were made in the state printing company Állami Nyomda,
is to be presented at a ceremony in the Stamp Museum on 10 May 2012. At
the event the stamp will be jointly released by László Geszti, Magyar
Posta’s CEO, and Gergely Prőhle, Deputy State Secretary at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. At the same time, the representative stamp
exhibition Rescuers opens in the Stamp Museum.Raoul Wallenberg (Stockholm, 4 August 1912 – presumed 16 July
1947), who was born into a well-off commercial family, came to Budapest
after the German occupation of Hungary in 1944. The diplomat immediately
became involved in rescue actions and in August 1944 issued 4,500
protective passports, which, on his insistence, were accepted as a
document for a family, thus a single passport could save the lives of
several people. He continued his work until 17 January 1945, when he was
detained by Soviet troops and later taken to the Soviet Union, from
where he never returned. (Source: wallenberg.hu)
On the left of the
stamp is a portrait of Raoul Wallenberg, which uses a hitherto
unpublished, contemporary photograph of the Swedish diplomat which
featured on the form applying for a Hungarian visa. On the right of the
stamp is a picture of a Schutz Pass, a protective passport issued to
help rescue people. In the background in the centre is a motif
symbolising the several thousand people saved from deportation. The
first day cover for the stamp shows one of the three Wallenberg
memorials in Budapest, the statue by the sculptor Imre Varga, erected in
1987. The composition is completed by Wallenberg’s well-known
statement, “For me there is no other choice,” in Hungarian and Swedish.
The Swedish Post is releasing a stamp block with similar design elements to the Hungarian stamp. Magyar Posta recommends the new Hungarian and Swedish stamps on a joint first day cover to the attention of collectors and everyone interested. Magyar Posta also released a stamp honouring Raoul Wallenberg’s memory on the eightieth anniversary of his birth in 1992. On that occasion the artistic portrait on the stamp was designed by the graphic artist György Oláh.
Order code: 2012102010011 (stamp), 2012102060012 (FDC)
Date of issue: 10 May 2012
Face value: HUF 340
Number of copies issued: 300,000
Perforated size of stamp: 45 x 30 mm (50 stamps/sheet)
Printed by Állami Nyomda
Designed by Imre Benedek
